important

Where’s the pivot? Despite speculation that he’d be softening his stance, Donald Trump’s much-anticipated immigration policy speech Wednesday night turned out to be the same platform he’s pushed throughout the campaign — a Mexico-funded border wall, no path to legal status and a tightening of immigration rules. The speech, which delighted the Arizona crowd, followed Trump’s cordial meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto — who says he told the GOP nominee that Mexico won’t be paying for such a wall, though Trump says they didn’t discuss it.

Borderline

She’s out of a job. Following yesterday’s 18-hour session in which Brazil’s embattled president tried to defend her record, the Senate has removed her from office. Sixty one senators voted to impeach following accusations that Brazil’s first female president had manipulated the budget — allegations Rousseff denies — thus ending her 13-year run heading the left-wing Workers’ Party. Rousseff’s replacement, Michel Temer, was subsequently sworn in and will remain in power until the 2018 election, but he’s facing an uncertain road ahead, as civil unrest and recession plague the country.

Majority Rules

Will this throw them off message? Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, 39, was a founder of ISIS and is credited with the terrorist group’s slick media strategy and signature violent videos. ISIS itself confirmed the death in a statement. Al-Adnani’s death will likely be a body blow to the organization — he was thought to be the second-in-command to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and oversaw overseas recruitment. But analysts note that he’s just one person, and that the militant group’s history indicates he’ll be replaced quickly.

Old Guard

They think it’s a rotten deal. After the EU bit into Apple’s bottom line with a $14.5 billion penalty over tax shenanigans, U.S. politicians lashed out against what New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called a “cheap money grab,” charging that Europe’s regulatory crackdown on American businesses harms fair competition. Others wondered if companies can be enticed home, and many fear there will be double taxation or other retribution for European companies operating in the U.S. in what’s becoming a pattern of tit-for-tat international trade enforcement battles.

Briefly

intriguing

She’s in a class by herself. While most who aspire to attend Boston’s famed engineering school first earn a high school diploma, Mumbai native Malvika Raj Joshi, 17, dropped out after the equivalent of American seventh grade. Only one Indian college would accept Joshi, who’s homeschooled — known as “unschooled” in India. So she started strutting her stuff in the International Olympiad of Informatics, earning two silver medals and a bronze in recent years. This grabbed MIT’s attention, leading to Joshi’s admission to the school’s computer science program.

School Ties

It’s late to the game. Twitter only takes 30 percent of the video ad money in its deal with the National Football League — the NFL gets 70 percent — and now other U.S. creators can reportedly exploit the same revenue stream. That’s more generous than YouTubers’ 45 percent take — by necessity, considering that Twitter is well behind its web rivals in the video rush and stars from Twitter-owned Vine have been fleeing for greener pastures. Yesterday’s launch was only on Twitter, though it’s expected to expand to Vine and Periscope.

Bidding War

An owners’ bark has an unexpected bite. Brain scans of 13 dogs taught to lie very still showed their reward centers were tripped when they were praised, but only when that praise was accompanied by a positive tone of voice — nonsense words in approving tones or approving words in flat tones didn’t get the same response. Scientists have long thought that left brain development led to our advanced speech patterns, but dogs showed a surprising left-brain bias, giving researchers paws about the uniqueness of human evolution.

So Fetch Already

They’re gonna eat your brains — with a delicate vinaigrette. Not content with horror’s cultural boom, with Stranger Things on Netflix and Ghostbusters on big screens, Millennials are embracing horror as part of a lifestyle. YouTube channels like The Vegan Zombie and The Homicidal Homemaker help people add spooky chic to their recipes and décor — the more abominable, the better. And even haunted houses, the kitschiest of scarefests, report they’re expanding operations past Halloween to other holidays, chasing a youthful demographic ravenous for the macabre.

Fear Factor

He’s out of his league. Baseball scouts gave tepid reviews of the former NFL quarterback as he ran, threw and hit Tuesday. After flaming out in the NFL, the polarizing Heisman winner’s been a TV commentator. But Tebow, 29, who played baseball in high school, is itching to re-enter pro sports. He showed surprising power and speed to scouts from 28 Major League teams — outnumbered by journalists — but his sub-par hitting suggests he’ll need to pay his dues on Latin American diamonds before he’s considered MLB material.